EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) -
President Obama and Governor Romney squared off Wednesday night in Denver in the first of three debates.
The focus was on the economy, including taxes and jobs.
Both candidates met face to face for the first time tonight debating their very different approaches to growing the economy.
Romney says he would lower taxes for middle income families, while President Obama says simple math and common sense show that Romney's approach is not a recipe for job growth.
As President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney took the stage in Denver, students at EVSC's new Tech Center were among the millions watching and listening about the issues that affect them here at home.
"A lot of my family members are really hurting because they don't have jobs. There's just no jobs in Evansville or in the other counties," EVSC student Jacob Fuchs said.
The focus of the debate was the economy with both candidates spending a lot of time pointing fingers at each other's plan.
"Governor Romney's central economic plan calls for a five-trillion dollar tax cut on top of the extension of the Bush tax cuts, that's another trillion dollars, and two trillion dollars in additional military spending," President Barack Obama said.
"First of all, I don't have a five trillion dollar tax cut, I don't have a tax cut of the scale that you're talking about. My view is that we ought to provide tax relief to people in the middle class," Gov. Mitt Romney said.
"I don't think either candidate has a really good idea about jobs. I think we're all kind of floundering right now," said Brian Naas.
Naas says he spends on about hour every day reading up on both of the candidates' very different approaches for the economy, jobs, and health care.
"I think that we are dealing with problems now that were started back in the 70s and 80s when decisions were made about taxes, government, and foreign affairs. We're going to be the ones paying for it in the future," Naas said.
"This is the most important election of our lifetime," Joyce Perry said.
Perry agrees the economy is the most important issue in this election. She believes Romney's past business experience is what is needed to turn the economy around.
"We're going to have to change and do things in a different way to get this economy going again," Perry said.
We want to know what you think about tonight's debate. Head to 14news.com and vote in our poll.
Copyright 2012 WFIE. All rights reserved.
Both candidates met face to face for the first time tonight debating their very different approaches to growing the economy.
